baseballfandomcom-20200222-history
Brian Duensing
Brian Duensing (born February 22, in ) is a pitcher in the Minnesota Twins organization. Early life Amateur Career High school Brian went to Millard South High School in , where he earned second-team all-state honors in both his junior and senior years. His senior year he batted .429, and went 2-2 with a 3.78 earned run average on the mound. His combined record in two seasons of American Legion ball was 16-3 with 141 strikeouts. He had a 0.74 ERA, and a .522 batting average his second season. University of Nebraska Brian was a college teammate of New York Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain and Kansas City Royals third baseman Alex Gordon at the University of Nebraska. In as a freshman, Brian went 6-2 with a 4.73 ERA and 60 strikeouts (versus 25 walks) in 78 innings over 18 appearances (12 starts). He replaced Shane Komine in the starting rotation in Big 12 play while Komine was injured. He won 6 games in a row before losing to Richmond in the Super Regional. He helped the Huskers reach the 2002 College World Series throwing 11.2 consecutive scoreless innings in the NCAA Regional and Super Regional until allowing three runs in the 9th. He was an honorable-mention freshman all-American and was on the Big 12 all-freshman team. His season was cut short by of an elbow injury that required surgery. He had gone 3-0 over four starts with a 2.42 ERA and 24 strikeouts versus six walks. After sitting out as a medical redshirt having Tommy John surgery, Brian had a breakout season going 8-0 in with a 2.60 ERA in 21 appearances. He threw 15 consecutive shutout innings in the Big 12 Baseball Tournament and helped the Huskers reach the 2005 College World Series 50 miles away.Huskers.com Bio Professional career Minor League Brian was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 3rd round of the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft. After he was drafted, he played for the rookie team Elizabethton Twins going 4-3 with a 2.32 ERA and striking out 55. In he went 5-10 in 28 games with a 3.49 ERA with 3 teams, the AA New Britain Rock Cats, A Fort Myers Miracle, and A Beloit Snappers. In 2007, he played part of the season with the Rock Cats going 4-1. He was then promoted to the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings where he went 11-5 with 3 complete games, 3.24 ERA and 86 srikeouts for the rest of the season.Red Wings Bio and Stats USA Baseball Olympic Team Brian was 5-11 with a 4.32 ERA and 76 strike outs in 23 starts with the Red Wings in before ending his season in order to represent the United States at the 2008 Olympics. He posted Brian's Baseball Blog from Beijing to give fans personal insight to the games from a player's perspective. In his only appearance on August 16, Brian pitched 3.1 scoreless innings in relief to earn the win for team USA against Canada. He gave up only one hit while striking out three. Major League An injury to Twins pitcher Scott Baker opened a spot for Duensing on the Twins' opening day roster. He made his major league debut on April 10, giving up a two run home run to Carlos Quentin for his only earned runs in three innings pitched in the Twins' 12-5 victory over the Chicago White Sox. He was returned to Rochester on the 14th when Baker returned from the disabled list. While he was back in triple-A he went 4-6 with a 4.66 ERA in 13 starts at Rochester. The Twins recalled Duensing up on July 2 sending down Sean Henn to Rochester. The next day he made his second appearance of the season relieving 3 2/3 innings, allowing one run on one hit while walking one and striking out two against the Detroit Tigers. On July 29, Brian made his first major league start against the Chicago White Sox to fill in for Francisco Liriano who was scratched with inflammation in his left forearm. He went 5 innings giving up 2 runs which were both home runs on 3 hits in a no decision.Twins complete sweep of White Sox References External links *Minor League Stats Category:1983 births Category:Living people Category:People from Marshall County, Kansas Category:Nebraska Cornhuskers baseball players Category:Minor league baseball players Category:Rochester Red Wings players Category:Players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Category:Olympic players of the United States Category:Olympic bronze medalists for the United States Category:Starting Pitchers Category:Players